Alcorn beats Rush; qualifying tournament starts FridayApril 24, 2014Results
NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana, ranked 10th in NAIA men's tennis,
closed its regular season Thursday with a 5-3 loss to NCAA Division I's Alcorn State.
Both teams are 9-10. The Braves snapped the three-dual win streak of the Gold
Rush and prevented Xavier from moving above .500 for the first time this season. The Rush were trying for a third consecutive victory against an NCAA Division I opponent.
It was the first Gold Rush home loss this season in four duals.
The Gold Rush will play Tougaloo at 9 a.m. Friday at XU Tennis Center in the opening round of the NAIA Unaffiliated Group 2 Tournament.
The Xavier-Tougaloo winner will play Oklahoma Baptist or the University of the Southwest in the semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday at the University of New Orleans.
Also at UNO, Xavier's women will play a 2 p.m. Friday semifinal against Oklahoma Baptist or Our Lady of the Lake. Women's and men's
championship matches will be played Saturday at Xavier.
Xavier led 1-0 and 3-2 before Alcorn clinched with three consecutive singles victories. Nischay Rawal ended the dual
with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 decision against Jordan Harrell at No. 3.
Freshmen Tushar Mandlekar and Adam Al brecht won in singles for Xavier, and Mandlekar and Kevin Chaouat
teamed for an 8-2 victory against Garry Amor and Rawal at No. 2 doubles.
Albrecht beat Amor 6-3, 6-0 at No. 6 singles, and Mandlekar defeated Max Tkachenko 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4.
Ernesto Santillan and Nikita Kostikov won in doubles and singles for Alcorn. Santillan and Kostikov beat
Kyle Montrel and Nikita Soifer 8-5 at No. 1 doubles, and Santillan beat Montrel 7-5, 6-4 at the top singles flight.

The Xavier Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets compete in Division I of the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) as a member of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC).
Xavier fields men's teams in basketball, cross country, tennis and track and field and women's teams in basketball, cross country, tennis, track and field and volleyball.